Roald Bradstock may be oldest at Trials (46)

[TrackCEO]

British Olympian Arne "Roald" Bradstock turned 46 in April and is on the bubble to qualify for his seventh Olympic Trials. He became an American citizen in 1995 and threw the javelin in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Trials. (He competed at the 1984 and 1988 Games.)

Yesterday was the deadline for entering the meet, and he currently stands as 24th on the Status of Entries page. With a field of 24 (or possibly 26), he's likely in!

Details on my blog:
http://masterstrack.com/blog/002608.html

Anyone know when the declaration period ends and when the qualifiers are officially announced or listed?

K E N

[Powell]

Re: Roald Bradstock may be oldest at Trials (46)

British Olympian Arne "Roald" Bradstock turned 46 in April and is on the bubble to qualify for his seventh Olympic Trials. He became an American citizen in 1995 and threw the javelin in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Trials. (He competed at the 1984 and 1988 Games.)

So it will be his fourth Oly Trials, not seventh.

[Daisy]

Re: Roald Bradstock may be oldest at Trials (46)

So it will be his fourth Oly Trials, not seventh.

I assume the British Olympic trials are being included.

[Half Miler]

Roald has been a frequent poster here recently. It would be great to hear from him directly.

[Powell]

Re: Roald Bradstock may be oldest at Trials (46)

So it will be his fourth Oly Trials, not seventh.

I assume the British Olympic trials are being included.

Was the term 'Olympic Trials' actually used in the UK at the time?

[Daisy]

Re: Roald Bradstock may be oldest at Trials (46)

So it will be his fourth Oly Trials, not seventh.

I assume the British Olympic trials are being included.

Was the term 'Olympic Trials' actually used in the UK at the time?

The AAA were the Olympic trials, although not officially called that as far as I know. Note that it is possible that Bradstock could still have been on the Olympic team without actually competing at the trials. The selection process is less strict in the UK.

[Powell]

That's exactly the point I tried to make. His longevity may be amazing, but the claim about 7 Olympic Trials is simply false.

[Daisy]

That's exactly the point I tried to make. His longevity may be amazing, but the claim about 7 Olympic Trials is simply false.

Well, not completely false. If i remember correctly the there was healthy competition to get on those Olympic teams for the javelin, so I suspect he did actually compete in the AAA's "Olympic trials" (possibly had to). Anyone know for sure?

[Powell]

But I think we've agreed that even if he competed there, that competition could not strictly have been called the Olympic Trials. The claim is misleading at best.

[marknhj]

That's exactly the point I tried to make. His longevity may be amazing, but the claim about 7 Olympic Trials is simply false.

Since I was in them I feel qualified to post. In 1984 the meet was called, the "HFC Olympic Trials"...

[AthleticsInBritain]

Hahaha mark! I wonder if they showed you jumping on TV? If so, I watched you - I was 10 at the time and sadly not in the stands.

Usual practice in Britain (and lots of other countries) to use their national champs as Olympic trials - in Britain they're called both.

[marknhj]

Hahaha mark! I wonder if they showed you jumping on TV? If so, I watched you - I was 10 at the time and sadly not in the stands.

Then you did, they showed me knocking off 2.26m.

Not being 10 at the time I followed up by knocking off three pints of Bass in twenty minutes at the Crystal Palace bar...

[deca-pat]

But I think we've agreed that even if he competed there, that competition could not strictly have been called the Olympic Trials. The claim is misleading at best.

7th Olympic Team selection meet. Same thing!

oh yeah, congrats Roald!!!!

[tandfman]

Usual practice in Britain (and lots of other countries) to use their national champs as Olympic trials - in Britain they're called both.

Lots of other countries, including the USA. The Olympic Trials are the USA National Championships in Olympic years. I guess the difference is that we call them OT, rather than NC, in publicizing and marketing the event.

[AthleticsInBritain]

Usual practice in Britain (and lots of other countries) to use their national champs as Olympic trials - in Britain they're called both.

Lots of other countries, including the USA. The Olympic Trials are the USA National Championships in Olympic years. I guess the difference is that we call them OT, rather than NC, in publicizing and marketing the event.

"Here Granny; this is how you suck eggs" is how it felt to write that paragraph, but I felt it needed to be said.